Wm. E. Boucher Banjo c. 1850
Price: $2600.
began making banjos in his Baltimore
musical instrument factory around 1848.
Union Cavalry
Soldier with Boucher Banjo, ca. 1864.
Ferrotype, courtesy of
Edwin Sims
His
banjo gained widespread distribution during the middle
of the 19th
Century. They were commonly used in Minstrel Shows
and carried by
soldiers of both sides during the Civil
War.
"Peghed" geared tuners............add
$150
Fitted hard-shell case........ ...add $150
Natural skin head.....................add $100
26" scale length with a 3.25" deep 12
inch rim. Has a rich
deep tone when tuned to minstrel tunings of
the 19th Century.
includes:
Maple neck
Rosewood fingerboard
Curly maple rim veneer
8 cast brass Boucher brackets.
Rosewood or ebony tailpiece.
Ebony tuning pegs.
synthetic head "Renaissance head"
from Boucher business card courtesy of Bob Sayers